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The Clinton 12 (88 min.)

Keith McDaniel
Saturday 12:00 PM at the Nickelodeon Theatre
On August 27, 1956, twelve black teenagers in Clinton, Tennessee walked into history and changed the world. They were the first students to desegregate a state-supported high school in the south. The events of that school year and of the bombing of the high school in 1958 are brought to life in the new documentary film THE CLINTON 12.

Narrated by award-winning actor James Earl Jones, THE CLINTON 12 tells the compelling story of the integration of the FIRST public high school in the South after the US Supreme Court decision Brown vs. the Board of Education. The title refers to the 12 black teenagers who, in the fall of 1956, were forced to attend the all white high school in Clinton, Tennessee.

This story, which has gone untold for 50 years, shows the horrors of bigotry and racism in the Old South, as well as the courage of a community that fought to uphold the law. This film includes interviews with 11 of the original Clinton 12 as well as seldom-seen archive footage and interviews with those involved in the events.

THE CLINTON 12 recalls one of the greatest moments in the American Civil Rights movement. This film tells of not only the courage of those who faced violent racial opposition, but the determination of a small, predominately white southern town that stood shoulder to shoulder to confront and defeat bigotry and fear.